Most of the artificial intelligence research today is based on the notion of the mind. Computational models, neural networks… Brain seems to be in the center of attention and mind seems to be the Thing. But what about the body? And what is the role it can play in the development of artificial intelligence?

The new paper Eroding the Boundaries of Cognition: Implications of Embodiment published in the latest issue of Topics in Cognitive Science provides an interesting overview of the current state of embodied cognition science (ECS). The main tenet of ECS is that cognition extends beyond the brain into the body and further into the environment. ECS also shifted away from viewing the brain as having a modular structure where each region is responsible for a certain activity.